BUG: allow custom writers when no defaults are available

jakevdp · jakevdp · commit b001785cb6dd · 2012-11-26T15:44:05.000-08:00
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/animation.py b/lib/matplotlib/animation.py
@@ -595,11 +595,6 @@ def save(self, filename, writer=None, fps=None, dpi=None, codec=None,
         the individual frames. This can be used to set tight bounding boxes,
         for example.
         '''
-        if len(writers.list()) == 0:
-            raise ValueError("Cannot save animation: no writers are "
-                             "available. Please install mencoder or "
-                             "ffmpeg to save animations.")
-
         if savefig_kwargs is None:
             savefig_kwargs = {}
 
@@ -662,7 +657,13 @@ def save(self, filename, writer=None, fps=None, dpi=None, codec=None,
             else:
                 import warnings
                 warnings.warn("MovieWriter %s unavailable" % writer)
-                writer = writers.list()[0]
+
+                try:
+                    writer = writers.list()[0]
+                except:
+                    raise ValueError("Cannot save animation: no writers are "
+                                     "available. Please install mencoder or "
+                                     "ffmpeg to save animations.")
 
         verbose.report('Animation.save using %s' % type(writer),
                        level='helpful')
